Page 71 of Caught Up

I eyed him, thinking about pressing the subject, but if Josh wasn’t ready to tell me yet, I didn’t want to strain our friendship by pushing him. “Dad wants me to head a new operation.”

Josh swore. “I thought you wanted out.”

“Idowant out,” I told him, watching Maud and Fred go racing past us again. “If anything, him handing more control over to me only upped my timeline. I’m already toying with the idea of taking on a business venture, but I might need some help with it.”

His expression turned hopeful. “Illegalhelp?”

“Is there any other kind?”

“Not in my field of expertise. What did you have in mind?”

“Nothing that you’ll need your Porno Joe alter ego for,” I said, recalling the stupid mustache and glasses he’d worn the first time I met him.

He barked a laugh. “Just digital work then?”

I nodded. “I need you to find out everything you can about a man named Patrick McKinney who owns a building over on the West Side.”

“One sec.” Josh set his beer down and vaulted the back of the couch, because he couldn’t just walk around it like a normal person. The house shook as he ran toward the bedroom, and a blur of color had me turning my head to watch both cats go streaking after him.

“Oh, you think you’re gonna get me?” he yelled, before dropping his voice a whole octave, sounding like a Batman wannabe. “I’m gonna getyouuu!”

Fred sprinted back into the living room and turned, fluffing up sideways as Josh came running after him. Josh slid to a stop. They eyed each other. Fred let out a loud chirrup and charged Josh, who turned and ran back out of sight.

I’d said it before, and I’d say it again: Cat people were fucking weird.

A loud scuffle broke out in the bedroom, confirming my belief.

“Hey, no,” Josh said. “She’s just a baby, Fred. You have to be gentle. Ow, Maud. What wasthatfor? I didn’t do it,he did.”

God help Aly if they ever had kids.

Eventually, Josh reemerged carrying his laptop. He set it on the coffee table, and an hour later, I had all the dirt on McKinney I could ever want. He wassixty-eight, had been married twice, was a diabetic, owned not one butfourbuildings in Velvet’s neighborhood, and was deeply in debt. Not with lenders or credit card companies. It turned out McKinney had a bit of a gambling problem, which was a weakness that would be all too easy to exploit.

My entire life was spent in the shadows of this city, and I knew almost every key player in it, including the people who ran the illegal gambling dens. A couple of phone calls was all it would take to find out who McKinney’s bookie was or who he owed the most money to, and then I could start applying pressure. Debts could be bought, usually at a steep discount, since my money was a guarantee and people who racked up astronomical tabs had a habit of not paying them, at least not without a littleprompting. Most modern bookies tended to get squeamish about breaking kneecaps. If there was a way for them to recoup most of their money without having to spill blood, they would take it, leaving the ugly work to someone else. Someone like me.

“Sooo,” Josh said, closing his laptop and leaning back. “Do I get to know what this is all about?”

“No,” I said. “You know Aly’s rule about keeping you out of mob shit.”

His expression became the picture of innocence. “But I thought thiswasn’tmob shit? I thought this was about you going legit?”

I eyed him for a moment, debating. This thing with Lauren wasall-consuming, and I was so stuck in my head about everything that it would be a relief to bounce some of it off someone else, get their take on how bad I was fucking up. I’d meant to apologize to Lauren yesterday and then have a real conversation, not desecrate a holy space with her.

I felt stuck, alone, not even able to talk to my own brothers about my life, because I couldn’t trust them not to turn around and tell our father everything I said. Which wasn’t a dig on them so much as a condemnation of him. Our old man had turned coercion into a fine art, and I wouldn’t put it past him to resort to threatening my brothers just to get the dirt on me. I especially didn’t trust him with any information about Lauren. His dislike of her seemed personal, and I was betting it had a lot to do with what he saw as her “negative” effect on me ten years ago. He’d felt his influence over me slipping, something that was anathema to a control freak like him, and he’d decided she was the one to blame.

So, no. I couldn’t talk to my family, but Josh had proved that he could hold his own.

I turned back to the TV, eyes unfocused, my decision made. “Lauren and I grew up together in the old neighborhood.”

While the baseball game moved into the sixth inning, I laid out everything, my childhood crush, the night of the fireworks, Tommy’s threats, my abandonment of Lauren, how I tried to make up for it with Kelly and our principal, and almost everything else I’d done to keep her safe and help her achieve her goals. I skipped my involvement in Tommy’s “disappearance,” because that reallywasmob shit, and while I told Josh about my interest in Velvet for Lauren’s sake, I kept my own growing personal interest in the club to myself. Yes, I was finally opening up, but I doubted I’d ever discuss my sex life with another man, especially one—gag—sleeping with my cousin.

Josh let out a low whistle when I was done and drained the rest of his beer. “Have you told Lauren how long you’ve been looking out for her?”

“I slipped up and mentioned something, but I haven’t gone into detail. Women tend to frown at being stalked.”

“Mhmm, mhmm,” Josh said, nodding rapidly.

“What?” I asked.

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